Folding chair brace



' Jan. 19, 1954 B. SHWAYDER FOLDING CHAIR BRACE Filed June 25, 1949 1N VEN TOR.

BENJAMIN SHWAYOER ATTORN EY.

Patented Jan. 19, 1954 E6I-4DING cnAmBaAcE; I

lienjalnin S livitiirftier, Detroit, Mich., assignorto j Shwayder Brothers, Ecorse, Mich., a corporatiopof Colorado du licating-111111225, 9;.Se a1No- 101,290 1* cl im. (01. 155-497) invention relatesto: chair; constructions and more particularly to .fo lding chairs which in-. clude at least a, pair of spaced legs, Heretofore particularly in folding chair constructions the front and, rear pairs, of legs have beenrein forced by arod or cross bracewhose end portions project'throu'gh corresponding, opposed transverse, openings in said legs, with the outer ends of such crossbracepeened over or otherwise riveted to the legs.

I sh obj ctor he present inven io o p vide. anovel cross brace-construction fora pair of such legs in connection wifih the. foldingchairs wher in, Qrosshrace of, t h ilar-eenstruct on is employed, being of substantial U-shape, withthe upwardly turned en-d portions of said cross brace engaging the surface of said legs and being respectively secured to-saidlegs as bya plurality of rivets, or by: weldin ifgdes ized 7 It the further object of this invention to provide a cross brace constructionto thereby inrea e. i i i the relatio ip betwee the pairs of legs interconnected and to prevent possible side play of the legsqrelativefto "each other 1' It is'the further objectof'this'invention to provide a novel U-shaped cross brace construction which is inexpensive to manufacture and which is more effective for the purpose intended than constructions heretofore known.

These and other objects will be seen from the following specification and claim in conjunction with the appended drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a folding chair embodying applicant's novel cross brace construction.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary broken away front view of the chair legs illustrating said cross brace construction; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

It will be understood that the above drawing illustrates merely a preferred embodiment of the invention and that other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the claim hereafter set out.

Referring to the drawing the folding chair construction generally includes the tubular U-shaped frame element It whose lower ends terminate in the parallel spaced legs [2 and I3, there being a suitable concaved backrest l4 positioned within the upper portion of said frame.

Parallel spaced tubular legs l5 and I6 form the rear legs of the folding chair and have at their upper ends the brackets I! which are pivotally 7 2 joined at If). to the chairs frame elem nt. HI 19 1 opposite sides thereof;

Hollow tubular seat, frame ['9 with seat 26 is pivotally mounted on its opposite sides at points 2| to front legs I2 and l3,resp.eqtively, with the rear portions of said seat cooperatively engaging the brackets 22 which are joined tonrear legs. i5 and It at 22 and whichproject forwardly therefrom, and which are, adapted to limitthe, downward 'pivotal'movement, of seat frame {9'' to the position shown. The front ends, not shown, of brackets ,22 are pivotally joined: to frame I9,

The cross brace, construction which forms the inventive portion of the present application generally ind ca ed at23' inc udeshe ho low tubul l h pedie ment 214. whose respec ive up-tu ne ends zsare ositioned adjacent and. i ngagement with corresponding interior portions of legs 12 and it'and are. secured thereto bythe rivets '26- I s co t mp a ed thateleme ts.25 quldj e .In t e. eferr dembed me tQfithe nven n rivets 25 extend 'through'brace elements 25' and thr u c respo n p ni ssin th Walls f the tubular legs [2 and ['3 asshown in Figure 2'. It is contemplated'thatif" desired, that said end elements 25 could be immovably secured in any other convenient manner.

Referring to Figures 2 and. 3 it will be seen that the end elements 25 of said cross brace have been pressed together and arcuately formed providing the outer concave leg engaging portion 21, and the corresponding arcuate inner wall member '28 which is in substantial registry with portion 21.

By so forming said end elements 25 it is apparent that the same are in cooperative registry with inner surface portions of the respective legs I2 and I3 and therefore provide a highly effective means of joining cross brace 23 to said leg.

The arcuate outer wall portion 21 extends substantially throughout the corresponding upright portion of end elements 25 so that there is an effective surface engagement between said elements and the inner wall portions of legs [2 and 13.

Consequently by this construction cross brace 23 is secured at its ends at a plurality of points to the respective legs [2 and 13 to provide for extra rigidity of said cross brace and the legs to which it is connected.

It will be noted furether than in the formation of the cross brace end elements '25 the metal has been flowed or formed to provide the portions 29 which project transversely outward beyond the diameter of cross brace portion 24 thereby increasing the effective surface area of the portions 21 which engage legs l2 and I3 and which are immovably secured thereto by rivets 25.

Heretofore cross-braces employed in folding chair constructions normally consisted in the use of a single transverse rod which inter-connected a pair of front or rear chair legs, with the respective ends of such rods projecting through corresponding transverse openings formed through said legs. It was then necessary to spin over or otherwise rivet the outer end portions of such rod in order to immovably secure same to said legs.

The disadvantage of this construction resided in the fact that the chair legs were weakened by such transverse openings at the very point where additional strengthening could well be used. It was found also that even with this type of cross-brace, there was still a tendency for the legs, when under certain stresses, to twist or otherwise bend. The crossbar was not therefore fully effective for accomplishing the purpose of rigidly maintaining a definite space relationship between the chair legs. Furthermore, this type of construction was expensive.

The present construction which employs a tubular cross-brace which becomes actually a strengthening member and reinforces the legs to resist torsional stresses or bending. A minimum amount of steel is employed in the tubular construction which does not exceed the amount of steel heretofore employed in the rigid crossbrace, and by this tubular construction, greater strength and rigidity is achieved. The tubular construction is much less expensive and is light weight.

In the present disclosure the downwardly extending end portions of the U-shaped crossbrace are pressed inwardly or partially flattened, however, it is contemplated that the tubular cross-section could be maintained for accomplishing applicant's purpose.

Applicants cross-brace is furthermore distinctly ornamental in appearance as the tubular construction thereof corresponds to the general tubular construction of the chair legs. Furthermore the down-turned ends of the cross- 7 ticularly an advantage over the old type.

It is contemplated also that the cross-braces for the folding chair legs may be moved upwardly or downwardly from the position shown in the drawings as desired for the particular use to which the chairs are to be put.

Having described my invention reference should now be had to the claim which follows for determining the scope thereof.

I claim:

In a folding chair having a pair of spaced interconnected tubular legs of circular crosssection, a hollow tubular cross brace interconnecting said legs and consisting of a straight elongated element of circular cross-section interposed between said legs at right angles thereto with its ends down-turned normally thereof, in abutting engagement with and extending along opposed interiorsurface portions of said legs for a portion of their length, opposed side walls at said ends being pressed together and arcuately formed to cooperatively register with said interior leg portions, the width of said surface engagement being greater than the diameter of said cross brace, and means immovably securing said ends to said legs.

BENJAMIN SHWAYDER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,176,124 Barker Mar. 21, 1916 2,044,378 Bergner June 16, 1936 2,233,749 Salomon 'Mar. 4, 1941 2,356,793 O'Connor Aug. 29, 1944 2,408,907 Booth Oct. 8, 1946 

